ten ideas for tomorrow's africa

4/07/2010

UNESCO has an interesting competition underway, called 10 Ideas for Tomorrow's Africa. Each idea should "amplify the positive effects and reduce, or contain, the negative impacts of the major trends observed in Africa" in one of 10 areas:

I really don't understand why "Media" is not on this list. In fact, the idea I have for African media taking ownership of itself doesn't even fall into any of these categories. I think African media -- film, television, music, literature etc -- is one of the most important trends on the continent. I think it has the potential to revolutionize the way the world sees Africa and Africans, to shift global attention and aid, even save lives. And I really don't understand why some folks, mostly bureaucrats, don't recognize it for what it is.

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1 comments

You have an interesting point there. But after reviewing the list, I think the role of the media can be categorized under education. I say so because your description of what the media can do is basically to educate the public- Africans and non-Africans. I think you can still submit your idea/vision for African media under the "Health, Education and Social Development" category. My gut tells me you can win.